Tuesday, August 31, 2010

No More Light Kits!

When we bought our house, every single room has a fan with a light kit.
Of course, Chris was thinking, how convenient...just flip the switch and the lights are on.
You see, I have been learning A LOT about decorating and design over the past year, and so I too thought it was convenient at first.
I knew our light kits were not very attractive (big white globes), but I thought we could just switch them out for a more appealing version.

So I started the hunt for more attractive light kits.  I searched high and low and came up empty handed.  Then I realized...I don't think there are any attractive light kits.  Light kits are just not very pretty.

My mom explained to me that fans are supposed to be inconspicuous.  You're not supposed to notice them.  They are just supposed to blend in with the ceiling.  Putting a light on them draws attention to them that you don't want.  

I was intimidated by the electrical work, so my temporary solution was that I pulled the cords on all the lights so that when you flip the switch only the fan comes on.  I did this so we would get in the habit of turning on lamps instead.  Then I removed the globes and the light bulbs, so that it looked like this...

and this...
Pretty huh?

During these few months of living with only lamp-light, I realized that what they say about overhead lighting is true!  It's not good (except canned lights, pendants, & chandeliers...not sure why).  I just feel so much better without it.  Bad overhead lighting makes you feel like your in a hospital, or a super wal-mart.  Something about lamps just give the room that ambiance...that really makes you feel good in your home.

But after a few months of looking at the globeless, bulbless light kits it was time for a real solution.  
I googled how to remove light kits.  I found some instructions, but nothing with pictures.  So I was still intimidated.  But Chris helped me, and we figured it out...It was super easy!

1.  Turn on your fan.
2.  Flip the switches in your fuse box, until one of them turns it off.  Leave it off.
3.  Unscrew the globe.  There will probably be about 2-3 screws.
4.  Remove the light bulb.
5.  Unscrew the casing that the light kit is attached to.  There will probably be more than one screw.
 6.  There will be a plug attaching the cords from the fan to the cords in the casing.  Unplug it.  

7.  Now, look for wires that say "light use" on them.  If they are not labeled, look for the wires that are obviously coming up through the hole that connects to the light kit.  Disconnect these wires by unscrewing the caps.  
8.  Recap the "light use" wires that are coming from the fan, but leave the ones that are coming up through the hole from the light kit bare.  
9.  Unscrew the light kit from the fan (which will pull the bare wires down through the hole).
10.  Replug the main cords from the casing to the fan.  
11.  Tuck all the cords in and screw the casing back onto the fan.  
12.  Go back to your fuse box and flip that switch back on.
13.  Voila!  Not so ugly fan, that nicely blends in with the ceiling...Just like Mama Taught Me!

***Beware though, we did discover we have a couple of fans in our house that have built-in lights that cannot be removed.  :(

Thanks for reading!
Onward!  You can do it too!  
NO MORE LIGHT KITS!!!




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